2 Gacha Kingdom Building

My name is Miwen, and I was always fond of the stories that happened twenty years ago.

However, I couldn't help but be envious of those who protagonized them.

That period, despite being way more chaotic than current times, always seemed like the stuff of epics, as an entirely new age was unfolding before us.

I knew it was foolish to think about replicating the same acts that happened back then.

The world had slowly but steadily adapted, and even the powers granted by Gifts seemed to lose their extraordinariness within society's collective consciousness.

Even if I could, what would be the point of emulating someone else? Some things were only special thanks to their circumstances, by trying to copy someone's story, I'd only diminish the value of my own.

And so, as I grew up, my desire to be like the others faded away, making room for a new desire: To carve my own path, epic or not, a story that I could proudly say was the result of the person I was.

I certainly held hopes for the I would trail, but I could have never imagined that everything I thought of as myth-worth in the past would only amount to the background calm before the storm I'd one day find myself in the center of.

And I mean, it would be hilarious to even joke about that, given that I wasn't someone special in the least. As a person, I was around average in every sense. I wasn't morbid, but to call me athletic would certainly be a stretch... As for being smart, well... at least I wasn't ugly... though I wasn't handsome either, so be it physical prowess, intelligence, or charm, I'd have a hard time measuring up to the best in each field.

There was something that could change it all though...

Only those who were already living during The First Contact received Gifts, as for those who were born even a minute after Gifts were distributed... well, tough luck, you'd never have one for your entire life.

Or at least that's how we thought things worked up until very recently. You see, I've been lying for a while now. Calling myself an 18-year-old and all. Truth is, I'll only reach that age tomorrow.

Even though in the old times this would be a very special age that starts one's adulthood, a few years ago, the age of eighteen got a new unique meaning. Those who didn't receive a Gift could actually get one once they reached adulthood.

For some time now people were worried as to how the world would function since there was a generation of people without Gifts.

But then, the first people who were born after the First Contact came of age and their Gifts naturally manifested, as if they had been there since the very beginning, only waiting to bloom.

The confirmation was a big relief for an entire generation, who now knew that they were bound to receive Catherine's Blessing in the form of a Gift.

As one could expect, I'd been waiting for my Gift for a long time, so even though I knew that I only needed to sleep and then I'd wake to a brand new side of myself, the excitement kept me from even blinking.

It was hard not to have high expectations... even though it's mostly random, some theories affirm that your Gift reflects your personality or at least an aspect of you, which in my case, could turn out to be anything.

Such ideas were never confirmed, however.

I couldn't see anything truly unique about myself, so, it was very much possible that my Gift would turn out to be average if these theories had any semblance of truthfulness to them.

Still, if there was something that could change my life forever, within a single day, it would have to be a Gift.

Many were the stories of common folk, much like me, who suddenly woke up to an incredible Gift, and went on to challenge deep levels of dungeons, getting filthy rich in the process.

These people also became famous, respected, and even able to influence the world around them.

Power like that wasn't really a desire of mine, though fantasizing about such things is always fun.

Truth be told, I'd be perfectly fine with a basic Gift. I have no complaints about my current lifestyle, my only desire for a Gift would be the ability to venture into the Dungeon, as raiding one has been my biggest desire, and if I could, I'd like to live as an adventurer.

Well, when it comes to life-changing events like these, it is difficult to keep your cool. Even though I'm usually good at it, this time, there was nothing I could do but feel anxious about it all.

To me, everything could change tomorrow. Depending on the outcome, it could be marked as the day when my life actually began.

And sure enough, as everyone knows, tomorrow has this habit of eventually coming.

But that day, when it came, it brought with it much more than I could've expected.

I had my priorities set straight, and as soon as my eyes were open, I focused my mind on bringing up a pop-up menu. if it worked out, it would be confirmation that I had received a Gift.

Sure enough, in front of my eyes, I could see the menu, and written in it were the three words that would form my Gift's name.

[Gacha Kingdom Building]

Going by the name alone, I had a bit of trouble figuring out the effects of my ability. I could recognize the words and their general meaning though.

To start with, Gacha is a genre of games, it's usually a game where depending on your luck you may get a myriad of items, characters, and other things to help you progress through the game, getting a stronger account the more time or money you spend on it.

With that logic in mind, if things were the way I was expecting them to be, this Gift might be a bit problematic. Troublesome would be an understatement if I had to use real money for it to have any effect.

Kingdom Building on the other hand seemed to have a lot of potential.

I for one, certainly wouldn't complain about becoming a king. I mean, you get to live a carefree life, barely lifting a finger and never having to worry about money... what's there not to like?

But well, given that it's called Kingdom Building, I figured that maybe I'd have to build it from scratch, and let me tell you, that is not something I was prepared myself for.

Not to mention, it also looks like something that would require lots of money.

I was beginning to see a trend with this title, but aside from hoping that the Goddess didn't give me a money-grabbing Gift, there was not much I could do.

It wouldn't do me any good to keep thinking about it, even more so when I could just check it out.

As if I had clicked a link on a website that leads to a new page, by focusing on [Gacha Kingdom Building] more information appeared.

These mechanisms were standard though, the only difference being the Gift and the information it would display after being focused on. Mine, for example, displayed a lot.

[ "Gacha Kingdom Building

Every day, for every level you possess, you get a [Gacha Ticket].

This ticket can be used in a variety of [Banners].

You can also spend [Mana Points] to roll on [Mana Banners]

Please note that the more [Mana Points] spent, the probability of a higher quality item increases.

Certain items may be locked and only obtainable if a certain amount of [Mana Points] are spent in a single roll.

You have [Access] to your very own [Kingdom].

You may choose other people to [Access] your Kingdom and choose people as your [Citizens] if both parties are in agreement.

The total level of your [Citizens] daily generates an amount of [Kingdom Points] for you, which can be spent for changes, upgrades, or items for both your Kingdom and your [Citizens]." ]

It was a lot of information, but every word in brackets would lead to a new page, so to investigate further, I had to focus on each one, going from top to bottom, I opened the page  [Gacha Tickets], where I could read the following:

[Claim Daily Tickets]

"Owned Tickets: 0"

Since there was no reason not to, I tested [Claim Daily Tickets], making the Amount of Owned Tickets rise to 1. 

Next, I focused on [Banners], but a gigantic list appeared without an end in sight, no matter how much I looked, there was always more. Even then, some names caught my attention, and thankfully there was a search function, so I tried looking for a few things, primarily a [Weapons Banner] and a [Skills Banner].

And while I was giving a quick look at the list, I also found an interesting banner called [Companions Banner].

I was very eager to test my Gift, so I wasted no time and did a roll.

Weapons are universally useful, but they also grab the attention of others, and a stronger opponent could easily take it, making it so that I'd have to fight disarmed.

if it happens to be an overpowered weapon, I'd be screwed.

Companions... it might have been an option but there was the obvious problem that I had no way of knowing their loyalty, so the chances of it causing trouble were even higher than the [Weapons Banner].

It would also be impossible to tell my family they would have to send me more money to feed whoever came out of a Banner in my Gift. So it was best to wait a bit before trying this one out.

That left me with the [Skills Banner].

There are some well-known problematic skills, like [Acid Hand] which makes it so that your hands produce corrosive substances. But those were a dime in a dozen, and even then, there were workarounds.

My biggest concern was the Gacha aspect, so I tried to go for whatever had the lowest chance of backfiring in my mind.

Since the great majority of skills are at least a little useful, I've decided to go with this banner. I could always roll at least once daily so there wasn't much to lose here anyway. 

I managed to convince myself that it would be okay and started the roll on the [Skills Banner].

My head got dizzy for a moment, and my mind went completely blank for a second.

"Who am I? Where am I?" These thoughts didn't even have time to cross my mind, as this state lasted only for a moment, just enough for me to worry, but not enough to get existential about.

But at least it was confirmation that something had happened. And so, I go all the way back to the [Main Menu], this time however, instead of focusing on my Gift, I focus on another button: [Skills]

This is a universal menu for everyone.. in this menu, one can check both his [Current Skills] and [Available Skills].

Using points you get by leveling up you are able to "buy" new skills through the [Available Skills] menu.

The available skills for everyone are different, some people can learn fire magic, some people can learn protective skills, and some people cannot.

Everyone should be able to learn at least something though.

But I was going to check the [Available Skills] out later.

First, I tried to confirm in the [Current Skills] menu what I've obtained in the [Skills Banner].

And to my surprise, it was quite good, not great mind you, but useful at a bare minimum, it's a skill called [Movement Speed Up]. The name gives it all away, and it is very obvious what it does, but alas, I check it just in case:

["Movement Speed Up

The holder of this skill has a bonus to his movement speed, allowing him to be faster and have better control over his movement speed." ]

Pretty clear-cut, but useful nonetheless, it was convenient as a combat skill, and as such would allow one to have an easier time in a dungeon, even as a beginner.

That being said, I also checked the other menu [Available SKills]

I instantly regretted opening it though...

While looking at this menu, the only thought in my mind was that something was wrong with my Gift.